Foot for child{40 s sleeping garment

ABSTRACT

The foot part of a child&#39;&#39;s sleeping garment is rendered more comfortable and less subject to wearing out by virtue of a construction embodying an upper foot element joined to, and preferably a part of, the garment leg and encompassing the top portion of the foot, a sole element joined to the lower margin of the upper element and including marginal portions along the sides and around the heel that extend somewhat above the floor when in place on the wearer, and a toe element overlying the toes of the wearer. The sole is formed from a blank or pattern in which square cut-outs are made at each corner of the heel end, and the two edges of each cut-out are then joined together thereby to form a shaped heel. The pattern of the sole piece is further characterized by substantially straight, longitudinally extending edges that taper toward each other moving from the heel toward the toe. Consequently, the height of the side parts of the sole piece that extend up from the floor gradually diminishes moving in the direction of the toe. The toe and sole pieces are formed of durable materials having external surfaces adapted to resist wear and to provide non-slip characteristics.

United States Patent Nobile et al.

[451 Apr.4,1972

[54] FOOT FOR CHILD'S SLEEPING GARMENT [72] Inventors: Charles B.Nobile; Maurice A. Jacobs,

both of Flushing, NY.

[73] Assignee: J. C. Penney Company, Inc., New York,

[22] Filed: Jan. 19, 1968 [21] Appl.No.: 699,222

[52] [1.8. CI ..2/80 [51] Int. Cl. l ..A41d 11/00 [58] Field ofSearch..2/80, 83;36/9,9A,10,ll

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 248,895 3/1926 Great Britain ..36/10Primary Examiner-H. Hampton Hunter Attorney-Brumbaugh, Free, Graves &Donohue ABSTRACT The foot part of a childs sleeping garment is renderedmore Comfortable and less subject to wearing out by virtue of a con-;struction embodying an upper foot element joined to, and preferably apart of, the garment leg and encompassing the top portion of the foot, asole element joined to the lower margin of the upper element andincluding margina1 portions along the sides and around the heel thatextend somewhat above the floor when in place on the wearer, and a toeelement overlying the toes of the wearer The sole is formed from a blankor pattern in which square cut-outs are made at each corner of the heelend, and the two edges of each cut-out are then joined together therebyto form a shaped heel. The pattern of the sole piece is furthercharacterized by substantially straight, longitudinally extending edgesthat taper toward each other moving from the heel toward the toe.Consequently, the height of the side parts of the sole piece that extendup from the floor gradually diminishes moving in the direction of thetoe. The toe and sole pieces are formed of durable materials havingexternal surfaces adapted to resist wear and to provide non-slip ims istqeima 6 re sE s PATENTEDAPR 4 I972 3, 653 O74 INVEN'TORS. CHARLES B NB at Y MAURICE A JACOBS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This inventionrelates to a novel and improved foot for a childs sleeping garment.

The sleeping garment predominantly worn by children in the range of agesof from, say, one to five years is the so-called sleeper, a principalcharacteristic of which is the inclusion of integral feet to keep thechild '5 feet warm. As is well known to those skilled in the art ofparenthood, children of this age category are often bathed quite a whilebefore they are put to bed and are often not dressed until some timeafter they arise. Consequently, the garment is worn during waking hours,and inasmuch as children are not particularly prone to sitting idly incontemplation but are, rather, most likely at all times to be crawling,running, wrestling and frolicking about, sleepers are subjected to harduse. Because childrens activities are of this nature, the feet ofsleepers are particularly subject to wear and have consequently beenconstructed of more durable materials. Moreover, the outer surface ofthe sole of the foot part of the sleeper have been provided with arelatively non-slip construction to make it somewhat safer for the childto frolic about while wearing it.

The feet of the conventional sleepers are usually composed of a solepiece that is designed to remain substantially flat on the floor and anupper part which is shaped to encompass and embrace the top of the foot.Although this foot construction has been generally accepted byconsumers, it has also been found that the upper part of the foot, whichis usually of the same material as the leg, is the part that wears out,the cause of the wear being partly the nature of childrens play in whichthe bottoms of the feet are not necessarily the only parts that comeinto contact with the floor and partly the tendency of the garment footto slip sideways on the foot of the wearer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION There is provided, in accordance with theinvention, a novel and improved foot part for a childs sleeper which ismore comfortable, is less prone to slipping around on the wearers foot,and provides longer life by virtue of greater resistance to wear. Theupper part of the foot is preferably constituted by an extension of thelower end of the leg of the garment, but it might well be a separatepart adapted to be secured to the lower end of the leg in the area ofthe ankle, while the bottom or sole of the garment foot is a sole piecejoined to the lower edges of the upper and constructed in a manner suchthat marginal portions along the sides and around the heel of thesleeper foot extend upwardly above the floor when in place on a wearer,thereby to provide portions along the sides and the heel of the wearersfoot that, like the flat portion of the sole piece, are resistant towear and are non-slip. At the toe of the sleeper foot is a toe coverpiece which is joined along its rearward edge to the forwardmost orlowermost edge of the upper and is joined at its forward edge to the toeend of the sole piece, preferably along a rounded seam. The sole and toepieces are preferably made of the same or similar durable materials thathave an outer surface which provides greater durability and non-slipcharacteristics, thereby to increase the life of the garment and providegreater safety for the wearer.

The sole piece of the sleeper foot is constructed in a manner providinga shaped heel that encompasses and embraces the wearers heel. Moreparticularly, the pattern of the sole piece includes a rounded edge atthe toe, longitudinal side edges that are substantially straight butdiverge somewhat to render the piece of gradually increasing widthmoving from the toe toward the heel, and a rear portion characterized bya central rearwardly and longitudinally extending heel element definedby substantially square cut-outs of dimensions equal to the desireddistance to which the heel is to extend above the floor when in place onthe wearer. The edges defining the square cut-outs are joined togetherto form or shape the heel and the sides of the sole piece to provide theabove-the-floor portions.

In a preferred embodiment, the height of the heel is preferably themaximum upward extension of the sole piece, the height of the sideportions of the sole piece, when the foot is in place on the wearer,being gradually less moving toward the toe.

When the child is walking or running forward, the tendency is for thefoot to move toward the rearwardmost part of the sleeper foot, therebybringing the heel into firm engagement with the shaped heel portion ofthe sleeper foot. At the same time, the shaped heel portion draws themarginal portions of the sole piece into the upwardly extendingpositions by virtue of a rearward pull as the wearers foot tends to pushback against the shaped heel. Thus, the construction of the sleeper footis such that the wearers foot tends to stay in place, or to put it theother way, the sleeper foot tends to engage and nest the wearer's footin a manner in which it resists sliding from side to side. In themeantime, the protective toe provides a similar function to the heel byproviding a portion which captures the toes of the foot.

Because the sleeper foot better conforms to and embraces the wearersfoot, the sleeper is more comfortable to wear. Moreover, inasmuch as agreater portion of the foot is formed of durable materials, as comparedto the conventional flat form of sole piece, the foot provides greaterresistance to wear by exposing a greater area of durable material toabrasion and stress and providing wearing surfaces on the side, toe, andheel portions of the foot rather than just on the sole.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a better understanding of the invention,reference may be made to the following description of an exemplaryembodiment, taken in conjunction with the figures of the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the embodiment as it appears withthe wearer's foot in place;

FIG. 2 is a rear, three-quarter pictorial view of the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a front, three-quarter pictorial view of the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view taken generally along thelongitudinal center plane of the sleeper foot;

FIG. 5 is an end cross-sectional view of the sleeper foot, the viewbeing taken generally along the lines 55 of FIG. 1 and in the directionof the arrows; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the sole piece pattern for the sleeper foot,the view being on a smaller scale than FIGS. 1 to 5.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT The figures of the drawings showonly the foot part (designated generally by the reference numeral 10) ofthe garment, but is will be clear, of course, that the foot is joined tothe leg of a sleeping garment of the so-called sleeper type. The sleepermay be either one-piece or two-piece, depending on the age of thewearer, and in either case it includes legs that extend down at least tothe ankle. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in thedrawings, the upper part of the foot, which is designated generally bythe reference numeral 12 in the drawings, forms an integral extensionfrom the lower end of the leg 13, but it may also be a separate partjoined to the lower end of the leg at, say, the ankle. The leg 13 andupper part 12 of the foot may be various fabrics, such as a brushed knitknapped jersey, a thermal knit and various others, The leg may beconstructed of one or two pieces joined along a seam or seams, theembodiment shown being of the type in which the leg is one piece, foldedand stitched along a seam 14 extending along the inside of the leg.

Joined to the foot upper 12 along a seam 16 that extends along the majorportion of the upper 12 is a sole piece 20 which is preferably formed ofa material having a soft, comfortable interior surface and an externalsurface that is durable and has nonslip characteristics. Advantageously,the sole piece is made of a relatively heavy flannel having on its outersurface (as constructed in the foot) a multiplicity of small beads orribs of durable, high friction material, such as polyvinyl chloride. Thebeads are strongly adhered to the flannel by partial embedment and arein a suitable pattern, such as a herringbone, contributing to thenon-slip properties of the surface. This form of material not onlyprovides the desired wearing and non-slip surface but at the same timeis not an overall film and therefore permits the sole piece to breath?for improved comfort.

Referring to FIG. 6 particularly, the sole piece 20 is cut to a patternwhich, in flattened condition, is composed of a rounded front edge 22,longitudinally extending side edges 24 and 26 and a rear edgecharacterized by a rearwardly projecting heel portion 28 defined bysubstantially square cut-outs 30. The cut-outs 30 have equal lengthwiseand transverse dimensions, relative to the sole piece pattern, that areequal to a desired height above the floor to which the heel is to beshaped. The side edges 24 and 26 of the sole piece pattern divergemoving away from the curved toe edge 22 toward the heel.

The sole piece 20 is shaped to conform to and to embrace the heel andthe side portions of the foot by joining the edges of the cut-outportions along seams 32 and 34 (see especially FIGS. 4 and thereby toproduce a three-dimensional configuration in which the sole piece iscomposed of a flat base portion 36, side marginal portions 38 and 40extending upwardly a substantial distance above the base 36 and anupwardly extending heel portion 42 (constituted by the heel extension28) joined to the rear or heel ends of the side marginal portions 38 and40. The side marginal portions 38 and 40 and the heel portion 42 .df thesole piece provide marginal structure around the lower part of thesleeper foot that extends somewhat above the floor and embraces the heeland sides of the wearers foot. The exterior surface of this upwardlyextending portion provides improved wear and greater safety than isavailable with the conventional flat form of sole piece. Inasmuch as thelongitudinal edges 24 and 26 of the original pattern diverge from eachother moving toward the heel, the side marginal portions 38 and 40 areof substantially uniformly increasing height beginning with a relativelysmall height at the toe and increasing moving toward the heel.

The embodiment of the sleeper foot, according to the invention, furthercomprises a toe toe 46 formed of a material having a durable andpreferably non-slip external surface, conveniently and advantageouslythe same material as the sole piece, and positioned on the footstructure to overlie the toes of the wearers foot. The toe piece 46includes a rounded forward edge 48 that is of substantially the samesize and shape as the rounded forward edge 22 of the sole piece 20 and aback edge 50 that extends transversely across the foot at substantiallyright angles to the side longitudinally extending edges 24, 26 of thesole piece.

The stitching or other means of joining the parts making up the sleeperfoot are best understood by reference to the following description ofthe preferred way of fabricating the foot. The extension portions at thelower end of the leg 13 that make up foot upper 12 will have previouslybeen cut to a pattern approximating, but preferably somewhat oversizedand the seam 14 along the leg will have previously been formed in thecourse of fabricating the sleeper body and legs.

The sole piece 20 and toe piece 46 are cut to a pattern that isoversized but conforms generally to the final pattern. The heel portionof the sole piece 20 is then shaped by forming the seams 32 and 34 thatconnect the heel flap or extension 28 of the pattern to the edges of thecut-outs 30. Next, the rear edge 50 of the toe piece 46 is joined to thefree edge or end of the foot upper 16 at a seam 52. Finally, the shapedsole piece 20 is joined to the previously assembled toe and upper alongthe seam 16 which, as mentioned above, extends about the entireperiphery of the foot. As may best be seen in FIG. 5, the transversedimensions of the sole and upper in the region between the toe andinstep are substantially equal, thereby facilitating formation of theseam 16 joining the sole to the upper.

The several parts making up the foot are desirably joined togetherinside out so that the seams will lie on the interior of the sleeperfoot. Although various types of stitching can be employed, and ifmaterials having a substantial thermoplastic content are used, heatsealing techniques may find use in constructing the foot, it ispreferred to employ Merrow-type stitching. Furthermore, the constructionof the sleeper foot is facilitated and neater, more uniform seams areformed by employing a cutting and stitching machine, as is consistentwith the cutting of oversized patterns.

Inasmuch as childs sleepers are often purchased overly large to allowfor the rapid growth of the child, it is desirable to provide an elasticband 56 to embrace the wearer's ankle and assist in retaining thesleeper foot on the wearer's foot. The elastic band 56 may beappropriately joined to the leg, such as by stitching 58, around thecircumference of the ankle portion.

The embodiment of the invention described above and illustrated in thedrawings is intended to be merely exemplary, and those skilled in theart will be able to make numerous variations and modifications of itwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. All suchvariations and modifications are intended to be included within thescope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a childs sleeping garment having leg portions, 3 foot partcomprising an upper foot element joined to the lower end of each leg ofthe garment and encompassing the ankle and top portion of the foot whenin place on the wearer, a sole element joined to the lower margin of theankle and upper foot element, the sole element including a base portionnormally in contact with the floor when the wearer is standing, sidemarginal portions extending longitudinally along either side of the baseand extending upwardly above the floor when the wearer is standing, anda heel portion between the heel ends of the side marginal portions andsimilarly extending upwardly from the floor when in place on the wearer,the height of the heel portion being higher than the side marginalportions at all points along said side marginal portions except at thejuncture between said heel ends of said side marginal portions and saidheel portion, and the side marginal portions being of substantiallyuniformly decreasing height at points closer to the toe portion of thefoot, and an upper toe element joined to the lower end of the upperelement and to the margins of the sole element and overlying the toeswhen in place on the wearer, the sole and upper toe elements beingformed of a base material that is resistant to wear and having anon-slip material thereon thereby to endure wear and provide safety, andthe sole element being shaped upon being formed and joined to the saidupper foot element from a fabric piece that has when in flat condition arounded edge at the toe, substantially straight side margins extendingfrom the ends of the rounded margin and diverging from each other, thedivergence and increase being at successive points moving toward theheel, a heel part extending longitudinally away from the toe and ofsubstantially lesser width in the flattened condition than the width ofthe side margins and being defined by substantially square cut-outs atthe heel portion, the heel part having side edges defined by one side ofeach cut-out and the side margin portions having back edges defined bythe other sides of the cut-outs and the said side edges and back edgesbeing joined thereby to form the heel and shape the sole piece into aform providing the upwardly extending heel portion and side marginalportions.

2. A foot part for a childs sleeping garment according to claim 1wherein the upper toe element comprises a substantially straight backedge extending generally transversely across the top of the foot and arounded front edge extending between the extremities of the back edgeand joined to the rounded edge of the sole element.

3. A foot part for a child's sleeping garment according to claim 3wherein the rounded edges of the toe and sole elements are ofsubstantially the same size and shape.

4. A foot for a child's sleeping garment according to claim 3 whereinthe transverse dimensions of the upper element and sole element aresubstantially equal when the part is in flattened condition along asubstantial portion of the front part of the foot between the toe andinstep portions. 5

1. In a child''s sleeping garment having leg portions, a foot partcomprising an upper foot element joined to the lower end of each leg ofthe garment and encompassing the ankle and top portion of the foot whenin place on the wearer, a sole element joined to the lower margin of theankle and upper foot element, the sole element including a base portionnormally in contact with the floor when the wearer is standing, sidemarginal portions extending longitudinally along either side of the baseand extending upwardly above the floor when the wearer is standing, anda heel portion between the heel ends of the side marginal portions andsimilarly extending upwardly from the floor when in place on the wearer,the height of the heel portion being higher than the side marginalportions at all points along said side marginal portions except at thejuncture between said heel ends of said side marginal portions and saidheel portion, and the side marginal portions being of substantiallyuniformly decreasing height at points closer to the toe portion of thefoot, and an upper toe element joined to the lower end of the upperelement and to the margins of the sole element and overlying the toeswhen in place on the wearer, the sole and upper toe elements beingformed of a base material that is resistant to wear and having anon-slip material thereon thereby to endure wear and provide safety, andthe sole element being shaped upon being formed and joined to the saidupper foot element from a fabric piece that has when in flat condition arounded edge at the toe, substantially straight side margins extendingfrom the ends of the rounded margin and diverging from each other, thedivergence and increase being at successive points moving toward theheel, a heel part extending longitudinally away from the toe and ofsubstantially lesser width in the flattened condition than the width ofthe side margins and being defined by substantially square cut-outs atthe heel portion, the heel part having side edges defined by one side ofeach cut-out and the side margin portions having back edges defined bythe other sides of the cut-outs and the said side edges and back edgesbeing joined thereby to form the heel and shape the sole piece into aform providing the upwardly extending heel portion and side marginalportions.
 2. A foot part for a child''s sleeping garment according toclaim 1 wherein the upper toe element comprises a substantially straightback edge extending generally transversely across the top of the footand a rounded front edge extending between the extremities of the backedge and joined to the rounded edge of the sole element.
 3. A foot partfor a child''s sleeping garment according to claim 3 wherein the roundededges of the toe and sole elements are of substantially the same sizeand shape.
 4. A foot for a child''s sleeping garment according to claim3 wherein the transverse dimensions of the upper element and soleelement are substantially equal when the part is in flattened conditionalong a substantial portion of the front part of the foot between thetoe and instep portions.